Adventures In Time
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: This title is set in my War of the Guardians universe and will follow the continuing adventures of the Doctor and Clara. The Doctor will also pick up a few familiar faces from his past to travel with him along the way from time to time including Polly Wright, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoe Heriot, Victoria Waterfield, etc. Of course Rose Tyler will make a few appearances as well.
1. Missing Clara

ADVENTURES IN TIME

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

CHAPTER 1

MISSING CLARA

**For the Doctor, this chapter takes place right after Chapter 19 of Tales of Gallifrey where Clara was left behind in the Doctor and Rose's past for reasons known only to them.**

While alone in their bedroom on Gallifrey, the Doctor stared off into space as Rose played with Jacqueline on the bed next to him. Rose could see that he was very upset about something, and she knew exactly what that something was. It was because he was still deeply worried about Clara.

They had left her behind back on Gallifrey with their past selves in order to preserve their timeline. Rose was sure that they would get her back one day since she remembered Clara eventually leaving. The Doctor wasn't so sure. He was so worried about Clara that he had stopped doing anything that he would regularly do including traveling in the TARDIS.

Rose knew that he was in bad shape when he was too depressed to even go on adventures. She knew that she had to get his mind off of Clara for a while. The only way that she could see to do that since she was still on bed rest per her doctor's orders for illness due to her pregnancy was to find the Doctor another companion to travel with for a while.

Or rather she was going to find him an old companion to travel with. Someone who she could trust to take care of him until Clara could return or she would start feeling well enough to go with him herself again.

She had someone already in mind for the job as a matter of fact. It was a woman who she had become very close to since she had first met her a few months ago, and she was already an old friend of the Doctor's so he would feel at ease with her.

Polly Wright.

"Doctor, Polly would like to go traveling with you. She hasn't had much to do lately since I've been sick and Mary and Alex have started going to school. She really needs some excitement. I told her that I would ask you if you'd take her somewhere," Rose said.

She was lying to him for once because Polly had said no such thing and had no clue that this conversation was even taking place. She would have to explain it to Polly later. She was sure that she would go along with it though. Polly was very sweet after all and would do anything to help the Doctor. She cared a lot about him and was one of his oldest friends and traveling companions.

Besides she was sure that what she had said about Polly was absolutely true. She had been noticing Polly standing around looking as depressed as the Doctor lately. Polly had been living in the Doctor's TARDIS ever since she came back from traveling with River and Donald to stay with her grandchildren, Mary and Alex.

Rose smiled to herself as she thought about how Polly was a grandmother but actually looked like a woman in her early twenties thanks to being regressed in age a few months ago. She now acted and dressed like a young woman again albeit one who still seemed to think that the latest fashion was to dress in the mini-skirts and go-go boots of her own youth back in the 60s.

The Doctor looked at Rose in silence for a moment as he thought about what answer to give her. She wasn't fooling him for a second. He knew that Rose really just wanted him to start traveling again and that Polly probably never even said a word to her.

Still he would like to have someone to show the universe again, and he never did get to travel alone with Polly. There was always someone else there with them. First it was Ben, and then it was Jamie. He wondered what Polly would be like just by herself. Would they be able to get along without anyone else to act as a go-between? He was curious as to how that would work out.

"Tell her to be thinking of a destination, and I'll take her there. It's about time that both of us had something to look forward to again I think," The Doctor finally said with a grin.

"Good. It's about time that you started to travel again. You haven't been anywhere in almost a week. That's a new record for you," Rose said as she gave the Doctor a tender kiss in appreciation for agreeing to her idea.

As the Doctor left to get the TARDIS ready to start traveling again, Rose called Polly in her room on the TARDIS from the monitor in her bedroom. She quickly explained what she had just done and as she had thought Polly readily agreed to go along with Rose's lie for the Doctor's sake.

"I really am bored to tears sitting in the TARDIS doing nothing all of the time, and I feel so out of place on Gallifrey. It would be nice to go back to Earth again or even just to visit another planet. It'll just be nice to have a simple change of scenery really," Polly said.

"Well, you're about to get it in spades. I hope that you forgive me if he starts driving you insane," Rose said.

"I'm sure that we'll do fine. I did travel with the man for a long time once you know although it was never by myself. That might be fun actually," Polly said with a grin.

"I just hope that you still feel that way after being trapped in the TARDIS with him for several weeks on end," Rose said.

"I'm sure that I will. Don't worry, Rose. I'll take good care of him, and I promise not to kill him before we come back. I can't promise what I'll do afterward though. I'm a very vengeful person sometimes despite how nice I seem," Polly joked.

"You'll be alright. I just hope that this will help him to keep his mind off of Clara for a while until she comes back," Rose said.

"Me too. I hate seeing him so depressed. Clara really does mean a lot to him," Polly agreed.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment in silence as the unspoken subject of Clara possibly never coming back lingered between them for a while, and then Polly said, "I'll do my best to help him to feel better about things, Rose. I don't like seeing him in pain any more than you do."

"Thank you, Polly. I know that I can count on you," Rose said earnestly.

Polly and Rose said their good byes, and Polly turned off the monitor as she quickly got dressed. She was ready to go by the time the Doctor finally arrived in the Console Room. She sat in the Captain's Chair and smiled sweetly at him as she waited for him to speak first.

"This wasn't your idea at all, was it?" the Doctor asked.

"Nope. It was all Rose's. Don't tell her I said that though or I'll deny it," Polly said as her smile never faded.

"So do you have any idea where you'd like to go on our first voyage alone together?" the Doctor asked.

"I'd like to go to Earth, but other than that I don't really care. Pick a time period at random if you want," Polly said.

"I wish all of my companions were as easy to get along with as you. I remember that you never gave me any problems whatsoever back in the old days. It was always Ben and Jamie who were the troublemakers," the Doctor said with a warm smile.

"Oh, come on. I know that you didn't always get along with Ben, but you were always very fond of Jamie. You know it too. I bet it took a crowbar to finally get him out of the TARDIS. He loved traveling with you," Polly said.

The Doctor suddenly looked sad again, and Polly said in a soft voice, "I never even asked. I just always assumed that you would have told me if something bad had happened to him. What happened to Jamie? Is he alright?"

"I hope so. He was when I last saw him anyway. The Time Lords sent him and my other companion at the time Zoe back to their own times and erased their memories of all of the time that they spent traveling with me except for our first meetings. That was back when they put me on trial and exiled me to Earth," the Doctor explained.

"Maybe he's alright then. There's so much of your life that I missed after I left. You'll have to tell me more about it as we travel," Polly said as her smile returned.

"Agreed. Maybe I should try to find Jamie. I'm sure that you'd love to see him again. He would still recognize you I suppose since you were there when I first met him. He wouldn't recognize me though. I've gone through a lot of different faces since those days," the Doctor said.

"You still dress like my Doctor though. You're still wearing those wonderful bow ties, and you're always going on about your hats just like he did. It's why I get along so well with you. You're like a younger, taller version of my lovable little fellow," Polly said with a chuckle.

The Doctor beamed at her as he said, "Did I ever tell you that you were always one of my favorite companions? You've just gone up even higher on the list after complimenting my dress style like that."

"I'm glad to hear it. Maybe I can be your regular traveling companion once again. I'd like that," Polly said happily.

"I would too. I've missed you, Polly. It'll be fun. Just you, me, and . . . Clara," the Doctor said the last part sadly as his face slumped.

Polly immediately got up out of the chair and put her arms around him to comfort him as she said, "She's coming back, Doctor. I know she is. You're right. It will be fun. It'll be just the three of us having adventures throughout time and space. It'll be just like the good old days all over again."

The Doctor smiled weakly for a moment, and then his frown returned. Polly cupped his face in her hands and forced him to face her as she said, "She'll be okay, Doctor. I know that she will. She is the Impossible Girl after all. Doing the impossible and making it look easy is what she does."

The Doctor smiled at her as she removed her hands from his face, and he kissed her forehead as he said, "Thank you, Polly. I needed to hear that."

The two old friends embraced for a moment, and then they split apart again as the Doctor went back to his normal self. The Doctor started up the TARDIS and set the time and place for Scotland in 1746. It was where the Time Lords had sent Jamie the last time that he had seen him.

"Go to the Wardrobe Room and get dressed up in a ladies dress from the mid-1700s, Polly. We're going to find Jamie or at least we're going to try anyway," the Doctor said.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting to the Doctor, Polly finally came back to the Console Room dressed in a long flowing dress that made her look like the belle of the ball. The Doctor snorted in derision, and Polly immediately frowned.

"What's wrong with it?" Polly asked.

"You're dressed like you're going to a party. The regular women in Jamie's time dressed nothing like that. Only the rich ones did on special occasions. You should know that better than anyone. You were there," the Doctor said.

"Yes, about fifty years ago. Excuse me if I've forgotten a few things since then. Besides I wanted to look my best when I saw Jamie again. I do look good, don't I?" Polly asked as she modeled the dress for him.

"You look wonderful, Polly. You always did," the Doctor said.

"Thanks. I guess you're right though. I really do need to wear something a little less ostentatious, don't I?" Polly asked.

"Yes, that's right. You should wear something that won't stick out like a sore thumb," the Doctor said.

Polly looked at his clothes and laughed but decided not to make any further comments. She knew that Rose and Clara did that enough already.

As she turned to leave, the Doctor said, "Polly?"

"Yes?" she said turning back to face him.

"Thank you for coming with me and for not making fun of my bow ties and hats. I really need the companionship right now," the Doctor said.

Polly walked up to him and kissed his cheek while she wrapped her arms around him for a moment. Then she pulled away from him as she said, "I always take care of the people that I care about, Doctor. I'll be right back in a minute."

"I'll believe that when I see it," the Doctor said under his breath after she left the room.

True to her word though, Polly returned in less than fifteen minutes wearing a much more plain looking dress that a typical woman of Jamie's time would have worn. The TARDIS had already had it laid out for her when she arrived in the Wardrobe Room. She had forgotten about how the TARDIS used to do things like that for her.

"That's much better; and yes, before you ask you look great in it. Honestly, you're so obsessed with how you look, Polly. You should be more like me," the Doctor said.

"You mean I should just slap on a bunch of odds and ends out of the closet and just give up on any sense of fashion whatsoever?" Polly joked.

The Doctor frowned and looked wounded as she began to burst out laughing at him. She gently touched his shoulder and said, "I'm so sorry, Doctor. I didn't really mean it. I just couldn't resist."

The Doctor smiled at her again as he said, "I know. It's just a game that I played with Clara. She'd pretend to hate my clothes, and I'd pretend to get mad about it."

Polly put a sympathetic arm around his shoulders as she said in a gentle voice, "She'll be alright, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded and started to say something, but the TARDIS interrupted him as it finally materialized. The Doctor opened the doors and said, "Care to venture outside, my lady?"

"I'd love to, my lord," Polly said as she took his arm with a grin.

He began to lead her outside of the TARDIS to start their very first solo trip together, but their voyage outside was cut short by the sudden arrival of the very man that they had both come there to see. Jamie McCrimmon came running inside the TARDIS out of breath as he shouted, "Let's go now before we get massacred by the soldiers waiting outside."

"What's going on?" Polly asked.

Jamie looked at her with a huge smile on his face as he said," Polly, you haven't changed a bit! You're still just as lovely as ever. Where's the Doctor, and who's this funny looking fellow? We need to get out of here quickly before we're caught."

The Doctor locked the front doors even as he said, "No one's getting in here unless I want them to. You should remember that from our travels together. Or rather you would remember it if your memories hadn't all been erased anyway."

"Doctor?" Jamie asked in surprise.

"It's really him, Jamie," Polly said.

"It must be. Who else would dress like that?" Jamie said with a smile.

"Jamie, do you remember traveling with me? Can you recall anything of our adventures together?" the Doctor asked.

"Of course I can. Why shouldn't I? Those people of yours tried their best to make me forget, but no one can make me do anything if I don't want to do it. I remembered again five minutes after they left me back home again. I've been waiting for you to come back ever since. I'm really glad that you picked now to do it too. You always did have a knack for finding trouble though," Jamie said with a grin.

"What are you running away from?" the Doctor asked.

"The Redcoats. We're still in the middle of that wee little skirmish between them and us that your people so kindly put me back down in," Jamie explained.

"You mean this is still the Battle of Culloden? You only just got brought back, didn't you?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Actually, it's been about an hour. I thought you'd never get here. I was beginning to think that you'd never show," Jamie said.

"Well, I finally got here, Jamie. It only took a couple of hundred years," the Doctor said with a smile.

"Aye, that sounds like you alright, Doctor. You'll be late for your own funeral," Jamie said.

They began to hear pounding on the TARDIS doors, and the Doctor quickly dematerialized. He had found Jamie again after all so he didn't really care to step out now. This really was starting to seem like old times. Now all that he needed was his recorder and some check trousers to really make himself feel at home in this particular part of his past again.

"Doctor, do you think that we can go find Zoe now? They probably put her back on that space station of hers again where we found her at. I'm sure that she's waiting for you too just like I was. I bet with that super memory of hers that she never forgot you either," Jamie said.

"I don't see why not. Let's go find Zoe then," the Doctor said as he started to put in the coordinates for the Wheel, the space station that Zoe lived on in the far future.

Before he could finish though, he received a very pleasant surprise as Clara suddenly appeared right in the middle of the Console Room. Clara looked at the Doctor in disbelief as if she couldn't quite believe that he was real, and then she ran to him and hugged him tightly. The Doctor eagerly returned the hug and kissed Clara on the cheek in gratitude for her having been returned to him.

"Clara, I'm so glad you're alright. How did you get back? What have you been doing? I'm so sorry for leaving you there!" the Doctor said in tears.

"I know. It's okay. I understand, Doctor. I had to be there. I know that now. I'm just so glad to be back at home with you again," Clara said as she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.

"Who's she? Did the Doctor go and get married while he was gone?" Jamie asked Polly.

"The Doctor is married as a matter of fact but not to her. She's his best friend, Jamie. Although I guess you could describe her as his work wife," Polly joked.

Clara glared at her as she said, "Don't even get started on that again, Polly. I had enough of that when he accidentally married me."

Polly laughed at her, and Clara's angry look eventually turned into a smile as she laughed along with her. Jamie found himself liking her already, and he could easily see why the Doctor did. The fact that she was extremely beautiful probably didn't hurt either Jamie thought to himself with a grin.

Polly shook her head at Jamie as she knew instantly what he was thinking. She had been around him enough to know his every look. She could read him like a book.

Clara was so glad to be home again that she didn't even care for the moment who the young man was who kept staring at her. She was just so glad to be back at last. The Doctor held her for a long time and refused to let her go. She knew that it was probably because he was afraid that she would disappear on him again. She was half afraid of that herself to be honest.

"Doctor?" Clara finally said when the Doctor finally let her go.

"Yes, Clara?" the Doctor said as he continued to smile at her.

"If you ever do anything like that to me again, I swear that I'll slap the life out of you!" Clara said with a stern look on her face.

The Doctor began to laugh as he realized that everything was finally back to normal again. He had his Clara back, and everything was right with the world again.

"Are you sure that she's not his wife?" Jamie asked Polly.

**Next: The Doctor pays Zoe a visit on the Wheel to see how she's doing just as he promised Jamie. Will he get more than he bargained for?**


	2. The Wheel of Death

CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE WHEEL OF DEATH

Zoe Heriot was slowly walking through the Wheel, the space station that she lived on in the far future, and desperately trying to find some help as she slowly became sicker and sicker. So far she hadn't found anyone, and she felt like she was about to pass out at any minute. She was terrified that she was going to pass out and quietly slip away before anyone could find her.

Then she heard a very familiar noise and smiled to herself. She turned to see a blue box that was burned into her mind and that she had never forgotten despite the Time Lords' best efforts to wipe it from her mind. She tried to call out for help, but she was so weak that she couldn't even speak. All she could do was make a low anguished noise that was her best attempt at a cry for help before she passed out right in front of the TARDIS' doors.

The next second the doors to the TARDIS opened, and the Doctor came running out to find Zoe passed out in front of him with horrible looking burns all over her body. The Doctor instantly knew what it was. It was radiation sickness.

What was going on here?

The Doctor gently dragged Zoe back into the TARDIS, and Jamie gasped in surprise as he said, "What's happened to her, Doctor? Is she going to be alright?"

"It's radiation sickness. Maybe if we take her to the TARDIS' medical bay, we can still save her if it hasn't been too long," the Doctor said.

Jamie helped the Doctor gently move her to the medical bay even as he asked, "What's radiation sickness?"

Jamie was from the eighteenth century so the Doctor did his best to simplify his explanation so that Jamie could understand him as he said, "There's this sort of invisible force called radiation that's very harmful to humans if they come across it. It attacks their bodies and will eventually kill them after making them very sick first. That's what's wrong with Zoe. She's been exposed to a massive amount of radiation somewhere, and it's made her sick. I just hope that I've gotten to her soon enough where I can help her."

"I'm sure that if you don't know how to help that Oswin probably could. The Daleks know all about the effects of radiation since Skaro was caught up in that horrible war so long ago," Clara said.

"Why would the Daleks help us?" Jamie asked in surprise.

"Things have changed in our time, Jamie. Now a lot of the Daleks have become friendly, and they follow a new leader, Oswin Oswald, the Empress of the Daleks," the Doctor said.

"Oswin Oswald? Is she related to you?" Jamie asked Clara.

"Sort of. She's the me from another timeline that no longer exists," Clara said.

"Huh?" Jamie asked. He never had understood all of the Doctor's high-minded talk about time.

"She's another version of Clara from another world. She looks exactly like her," the Doctor explained.

"Oh, well that explains it then!" Jamie said.

"Explains what?" Clara asked.

"If she looks just like you, no wonder the Daleks are following her around doing whatever she says. I can't blame them," Jamie said with a sly grin.

Clara blushed in embarrassment while the Doctor shook his head. Clara smiled at him while she said, "I'm very flattered, Jamie, but I'm not interested. Sorry."

Jamie looked disappointed for a moment but quickly smiled as he said, "So you're not interested at all? Not even in the slightest? Would it be okay if I keep trying or is that a definite no?"

Clara smiled at him as she said, "Keep trying if you want, but I just don't think I'll change the way that I feel. When I tell you to finally stop though, I expect you to stop for good. Got it?"

"Aye. I understand. Until then, I'm going to do my best to change your mind," Jamie said with a hopeful look on his face.

"Jamie, you're an incurable romantic, aren't you?" Polly said with a warm smile.

"I live in hope, Polly. Maybe someday I'll find Mrs. McCrimmon yet. If I haven't already found her that is," Jamie said as he looked at Clara.

After Jamie and the Doctor laid Zoe out on a bed in the medical bay, Jamie and Polly went back to the Console Room and left the Doctor and Clara alone with her. The Doctor began to use the diagnostic machine to see just how bad that Zoe was as he attempted to determine how best to treat her.

"He certainly lays it on thick, doesn't he?" Clara said to the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled at her as he said, "He's a good man. He just tends to be a little over-exuberant sometimes."

"That's one way of putting it," Clara said with an amused grin on her face.

"You didn't tell him to stop though, did you?" the Doctor pointed out.

"No, he looked so disappointed that I thought that I'd give him another shot. I can't guarantee anything though," Clara said.

"Just let him down gently when the time's right," the Doctor said.

"Of course I will. I like him already. I just don't like him like him," Clara said.

The Doctor's diagnostic machine quickly scanned Zoe, and the Doctor smiled with relief as he could see that she was still capable of being saved. He activated the TARDIS' equipment and quickly began to decontaminate Zoe and reverse the effects of the radiation on her body.

"I'm glad that she's going to be okay. I remember meeting her once before actually. It was when your second incarnation met your eighth incarnation, and there were all of those palm trees around," Clara said with a small smile on her face.

"One of your echoes was there that day?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Yes and I chased after the second you in that heavy fur coat of yours forever. Why you were running around in that get up in all of that heat is beyond me," Clara said with a giggle.

"Time Lords don't feel heat the same way that humans do," the Doctor protested.

"I guess not. Otherwise you would have passed out in that thing. You know you should really be glad to have Rose around to keep you from doing things like that now. She helps keep you in line," Clara said.

"I don't need to be kept in line. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I've done it for over nine hundred years you know," the Doctor pouted.

They could hear the sound of weak laughter, and the Doctor and Clara turned to see that it was Zoe. She was now wide awake but still very weak as the Doctor's machines slowly healed her. The Doctor smiled with joy as he went over to stand next to her bedside.

"Zoe! How are you doing? Do you know who I am?" the Doctor asked.

"You're wearing a bow tie and acting like a child so you must be the Doctor. I'm doing much better than before. At least the pain is lessening somewhat," Zoe said with a warm smile.

"I'm glad that you still remember me, Zoe. I was hoping that you would. What happened to you? You had massive radiation poisoning. Where did you come in contact with that much radiation?" the Doctor asked in a worried voice.

"Radiation poisoning? Is that what was wrong? I don't know how it happened. I was just doing my job back at the Wheel like usual when I suddenly felt very sick and started throwing up. I tried to find someone to help me, but I couldn't find anyone. Then I saw the TARDIS, and I knew that you were back. I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life," Zoe said.

"I hear Zoe talking. Is she okay?" Jamie asked as he came back into the medical bay.

"Hey, Jamie. I see that he found you too. I'm so glad to see you again," Zoe said.

"I'm glad to see you too, Zoe. I'm glad that you're feeling better. She's alright now, isn't she?" Jamie asked the Doctor.

"Yes, she'll be fine. It's the rest of the crew of the station that I'm worried about now. They may all have the same thing by now. I have no idea what could have caused this, but I'm going to have to find out though. I'm going out there alone. The rest of you stay in the TARDIS. I have a natural resistance to certain forms of radiation that should protect me from getting sick. If you don't hear from me in within an hour, contact Rose," the Doctor said as he quickly headed out of the TARDIS.

"Rose?" Jamie asked once he left.

"That's his wife. She's the one that I told you about before," Polly explained.

"The Doctor has a wife? She must be the most patient and understanding woman in the universe," Zoe said with a grin.

"She is. She's also the kindest woman you'll ever meet," Polly said.

"I can believe that. The Doctor is the kindest man that I've ever met after all," Zoe said.

"I'll agree with that. I'm Polly by the way. Polly Wright," Polly said.

"I know you. Jamie used to talk about you and Ben all of the time. He was very fond of you," Zoe said.

"Yeah, I kind of missed the two of you once you left," Jamie said as he looked embarrassed.

"We missed you too. You were just like a little brother to us," Polly said looking at him fondly.

"I'm Clara Oswald. It's nice to meet you, Zoe," Clara said.

"I know you too. I've seen you somewhere before. I'm sure of it. You helped me that time when the Doctor met his other self, didn't you?" Zoe said.

"Yes, that was me. Sort of," Clara said.

Jamie stared at her in confusion as he said, "I don't remember meeting you before, and I really think that I would have remembered seeing someone as lovely as you."

"Good one, Jamie. Not good enough though. Keep trying. Only Zoe met me that time not you. You and the Doctor never saw me. I certainly tried hard enough to get his attention though," Clara said.

"The Doctor must have been really distracted not to have noticed you," Jamie said.

"That's better. I'm still not feeling anything yet though. Keep trying," Clara said with a smile.

"It's a challenge then. I'm more than up to it I'm sure," Jamie said with a grin.

Polly and Zoe exchanged an amused look with each other but said nothing. They both wondered if this was Jamie and Clara's idea of flirting.

Suddenly they were all surprised as Rose suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a golden burst of energy. She immediately ran to Clara and hugged her tightly and wouldn't let her go as she started to cry tears of joy.

"I'm so sorry, Clara. I didn't want to leave you back in the past, but I had to in order to preserve the timestream. I'm so sorry! I was so worried about you," Rose said in an upset voice.

"I'm fine, Rose. Don't beat yourself up over it," Clara said.

"I tried to put up a brave front and assure the Doctor that you were going to be just fine. He was all beside himself and stopped going anywhere. He just sat around and moped," Rose said.

Clara looked both shocked and touched at the same time as she said, "He gave up traveling because of me? He must care about me more than I thought."

"You know he does. We both do. I'm so sorry," Rose apologized again.

"Stop it, Rose. I'm fine. If you ever do that to me again though, I'll have to slap both of you into next week," Clara said.

"I won't. I promise. I'll never do anything like that again. I wouldn't go through that kind of turmoil again for anything," Rose said as she continued to apologize to Clara profusely.

"Is that the Doctor's wife?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, that's her. She really cares a lot about Clara," Polly said as they watched Rose and Clara's joyous reunion with smiles on their faces.

"Aye, I can see that. She won't let go of her. I think she missed her even worse than the Doctor if that's possible," Jamie said.

"She's beautiful. She reminds me of an angel especially with the golden light that she used coming here," Zoe said.

"Don't tell her that. She'll tell you very quickly that she's no angel," Polly said.

Then she leaned over and whispered into Zoe's ear, "She's close enough to one though."

Zoe smiled and nodded. She was so glad that the Doctor had finally found someone. She remembered how lonely that he used to be sometimes when she had traveled with him.

Jamie stared at Rose intently for a few moments and then he suddenly said to her, "You seem so familiar. Have we met before?"

"She's married, Jamie. Stop flirting. I thought that we had an exclusive thing going on here," Clara joked.

"I wasn't flirting. Not with her anyway. I was asking the Doctor's wife an honest question. Do I know you?" Jamie asked.

"You can call me Rose, Jamie; and yes, we have met before back when we ran across H.G. Wells together. You were with Victoria back then, and I looked very different than I do now. I had red hair and a different face and name back them. I was Arkytior," Rose said.

Jamie's eyes lit up, and he said, "I do know you! I remember you now. The Doctor said that you died though."

"He thought that I did, but luckily he was wrong," Rose explained.

"Good, I'm so glad. I liked you then, and I still like you now. You're more than a match for him. I could tell that he really loved you from the pain in his eyes when he talked about losing you," Jamie said.

"Thank you. I take it from Zoe's radiation sickness that the Doctor's out there by himself to protect all of you from exposure to radiation too and probably already in trouble. I'll have to go check on him like usual. I'll see all of you in a little bit and let you know if he's okay or not," Rose said as she quickly disappeared in a burst of golden energy just as quickly as she came.

Zoe suddenly started glowing all over and then was completely healed within seconds. She looked at her body in shock as she said, "Did Rose do this?"

"Yep. She does stuff like that a lot," Clara said with a chuckle.

"She just pops in and out like that all of the time?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, she does. She's always keeping an eye on the Doctor. I have no idea why she would feel the need to do that," Polly said as she winked at the others.

"I can. He gets into so much trouble. He used to back when I traveled with him too. It's like trouble's drawn to him or he is to it. I never was quite sure which it was," Zoe said.

"Offhand, I'd say both. If there's trouble someone in the universe, sooner or later the Doctor will find it and soon find himself hip deep in it. Then either Rose or I will have to come along and save him from it," Clara said.

"It sounds like nothing's changed then. It used to be me that did that," Jamie said.

"Who are you kidding? You used to join him. I was the one who was always bailing you both out of one mess after another," Zoe said indignantly.

"That's true. The Doctor was always getting me into one scrape after another. We had some good times!" Jamie said with a huge smile.

"I can see why he liked you so much now. You're just as out there as he is," Clara said.

"Is that flirting?" Jamie asked confused.

"No, it's just being truthful," Clara said chuckling.

Meanwhile outside of the TARDIS, the Doctor had been continuously finding several more victims of radiation poisoning throughout the station. He had been constantly moving them into the station's sick bay and hooking them up to life support machines that would keep them going until he could get back to them. He was going to search the whole station if he had to in order to find out what was going on here.

He wasn't too surprised to suddenly find Rose standing next to him, and he smiled at her as he said, "Did they call you already?"

"No. I came because I sensed that Clara was back. You should have told me," Rose chastised him.

"I was busy. I ran into this mess almost as soon as I found Clara," the Doctor said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I healed Zoe by the way. She's going to be alright," Rose said.

"Thanks. I have a whole sick bay full of people on life support with the same thing. This station is just full of radiation. Luckily it's not bad enough to hurt us, but it would have the others if I had let them come out here. I can't understand what could have caused this. I haven't found any clues to that yet," the Doctor said.

"I'm sure that whatever it is it has something to do with some kind of invasion. This can't be an accident," Rose said.

"I know. That's what worries me. What kind of life form could survive this much radiation and would gladly use it as a weapon without any remorse whatsoever?" the Doctor asked.

The two of them looked at each other, and both of them instantly knew what the other one was thinking without even having to say it. They had both come to the same conclusion at once.

Daleks!

"IT IS THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD WOLF! EXTERMINATE THEM! EXTERMINATE!" came a chorus of Dalek voices behind them.

They whirled around to see a small army of Daleks headed straight toward them, and all of them were firing on them at once. The Doctor and Rose smiled at each other as they both pulled out their screwdrivers and prepared for a fight.

"Well, Doctor, there's a massive horde of Daleks out to wipe us out. It must be Wednesday," Rose said.

"It's Saturday actually," the Doctor said.

"They're late! We're going to have to speak to them about the importance of keeping their appointments," Rose joked.

"Yes, let's do that. We'll go tell them about it right now. Ladies first," the Doctor said.

"Aw, you're always such a gentleman, Doctor," Rose said with a wide grin covering her entire face.

The two of them then charged right into the thick of the massive Dalek army and began fighting back against them right away. They were both smiling madly the entire time. This was what they had both been born to do, and they were both enjoying every minute of it.

**Next: What are the Daleks up to? What is their interest in the Wheel? For that matter, why do the Cybermen suddenly decide to show up to invade it once again as well?**


	3. The Ultimate Weapon

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

THE ULTIMATE WEAPON

Clara watched the Doctor and Rose fight it out with the Daleks on the monitor with a look of concern on her face. She knew that they could probably take care of them by themselves, but she still didn't feel right that she wasn't out there standing by their side.

She always felt this overwhelming need to watch out for them. The Doctor needed someone to keep him from going too far, and Rose needed someone to remind her to take care of herself too from time to time and not just others. They were both her best friends and not to be there with them when they needed her was killing her inside.

Polly couldn't help but smile at the expression on Clara's face. She thought back to the time when that had been her once. She had once worried about the Doctor just as much as Clara did now. She had considered it to be like a sacred duty to take care of him and had taken it very seriously. She had taken it so seriously as a matter of fact that she had made Jamie promise to watch out for him in her place when she finally left to return to her time. According to Zoe though, this had been like leaving the fox in charge of the hen house.

Now Clara felt exactly the same way it seemed as she had once done. In fact, she might be even worse.

"They'll be alright. I know it may be hard to believe, but they can manage to actually survive without you for a while. Rose used to be his companion before she knew that she was his wife so I'm pretty sure that she can take care of the both of them," Polly said confidently.

"I know. I'm sure that they're going to be fine. I just wish that I could be there. It feels wrong not to be watching out for them. I've done it for so long and in so many different guises, Polly. It's kind of become my life," Clara said.

"You'll have to watch out for that, Clara. That almost happened to me. It started to become my life too, and then once I realized that I got out. You can't forget to have a life of your own, Clara. You have to find someone who makes you happy and live for yourself too," Polly advised her.

"Aye, you need to find that special someone who you can spend the rest of your life with," Jamie said as he stuck his chest out with pride.

Clara laughed as she said, "You never give up, do you?"

"No. Not when I see something I want. It's one of my most endearing features," Jamie said with a sly grin.

"I still don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry," Clara said in a serious voice.

"I can keep trying though, right?" Jamie asked in concern.

"Of course you can. It gives me something to keep me distracted while I'm worried if nothing else," Clara said.

"Don't worry so much about him, Clara. He can take care of himself. He'll be fine," Jamie said.

"I learned a long time ago that it's usually everyone else that should be worried if the Doctor is left on his own for too long. He gets a little too out of control if he's left to himself. He has his wife with him though so he should be alright. I have to admit that I wish I was with him too. I've only just stopped traveling with him from my point of view. It was only a few weeks ago when the Time Lords sent me home," Zoe said.

"A few weeks? It was only about a day for me," Jamie said in surprise.

"That's time travel for you. It's all relative," Clara said.

_At least he didn't make any of you wait for twelve months like he did my mum._ Rose's voice suddenly said in all of their minds.

_Are you ever going to let that go?_ The Doctor's replied with a groan.

_No._ Rose responded with a giggle.

"Are all of you hearing them in your head too or am I losing my mind?" Jamie asked in concern.

"It's okay, Jamie. Apparently Rose has set up a temporary telepathic link between the two of them and the rest of us here in the TARDIS," Clara said with a relieved smile on her face.

"A what?" Jamie asked.

"It basically means that we can hear their thoughts in our heads, Jamie, and they can hear us talk back to them," Zoe explained with an exasperated sigh.

"How? They're not here. How can they hear anything?" Jamie asked.

"They just can. Time Lords are telepathic. What they're doing is direct mind to mind communication," Polly said.

"I'm just going to pretend to know what you're all talking about and nod. It helped me get through some of the Doctor's high-minded talk in the past when I didn't have a clue what he was saying either. They can hear us and we can hear them so I guess that's all I need to know. I don't need to know how it works," Jamie said.

_I didn't mean to cause any confusion, Jamie. I just wanted to establish contact with the rest of you because I didn't want you to be worried about us. I know that some of you tend to worry just a tad too much about us. I'm not naming any names though._ Rose responded.

_Are you talking about Clara?_ The Doctor responded.

_I said that I wasn't naming any names. What did you not get about that, Doctor?_ Rose replied with a slightly annoyed but mostly amused tone in her mental voice. Clara could almost see her shaking her head at him.

_Sorry._ The Doctor thought back in an apologetic tone.

"Could it be that part of the reason you established this link was that you were a little worried about us too?" Polly asked with a knowing smile.

_It could be. I used to be one of you after all. Who better to know just how much trouble that you'll all get into if I don't keep an eye on you?_ Rose admitted.

_Aren't you being just a tad hypocritical, Rose? I mean you were the most jeopardy prone companion that I ever had bar none._ The Doctor responded.

_I know. I know. I just worry about them I guess. I was a little afraid that they might come outside if I didn't check in with them. Or at least that one of them would anyway._ Rose replied in a worried tone.

_Are you talking about Clara again?_ The Doctor asked.

They all heard a loud popping noise and a scream that made them all laugh.

_What was that for?_ The Doctor whined.

_That's for being so thick._ Rose's mental voice could be heard saying next.

Clara looked embarrassed as she said, "I have to admit that I was thinking about it."

"What?" Polly asked in shock. Clara could certainly see both the grandmother and mother in Polly coming out now as she gave her a 'How could you be so stupid?' look that she thought that her father had invented all by himself.

"I was going to put on a radiation suit from the wardrobe room. The Doctor has one. I've seen it in there before," Clara said defending herself.

They could all hear Rose laughing in amusement in the minds.

_It would have been a terrible idea, Clara. One rip in that suit, and you would have been killed instantly with all of the radiation that's in the area that we're in now. It's just getting worse and worse in here by the moment. I really don't feel like bringing you back from the dead today, Clara, so don't even think about it. Half of the time that I bring people back to life I tend to make them immortal by mistake._ Rose replied with a slight hint of a threat in her voice.

Clara knew that she would never intentionally do such a thing, but she got her message loud and clear. Don't come out here and get yourself killed, you crazy girl!

"Message understood," Clara said.

_Good. Now stay in the TARDIS! The Doctor and I are perfectly safe. Stop worrying so much about us. We're going to sort this lot out, kick some Dalek posterior, and then head on back. We'll see you in a little while. _Rose responded before breaking off the link.

"She really must care a lot about you. She sounds just like a worried mother," Zoe said.

"I've grown very close to both of them. They're like family to me now, and I care a lot about them too," Clara admitted.

"You must do to do something so incredibly dangerous," Polly said.

"She's very loyal to the people that she cares about, Polly. There's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, I like that in a woman," Jamie said defending her with a grin.

Clara smiled at him appreciatively and surprised both herself and Jamie as she kissed his cheek.

Jamie's smile began to get wider as Clara quickly said, "That means nothing. That was just in appreciation for what you said. That's all."

"Of course it was. I understand," Jamie said smugly clearly not believing her.

"I'm sorry if I came down a little hard on you, Clara. It's the mum in me rearing its ugly head. I know that I'm supposed to be your friend not your mother. I just don't want you to do something foolish," Polly apologized.

"It's okay. I kind of liked it. I miss that kind of thing," Clara said looking sadly for a moment as she silently missed her mother.

Polly placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as she realized what she must be thinking about even as Jamie gave her a reassuring smile. Clara smiled back at both of them in appreciation.

Zoe meanwhile couldn't help but think about her own mother. She hadn't seen her parents since she was very young. She had been taken from them and put into a special education program called the Elite Program. From there, she eventually wound up on the Wheel. She wondered with sadness if they were even still alive or not or where they were.

"Are you okay, Zoe?" Jamie asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just great," Zoe said with a fake cheerful tone to her voice.

"I'm always here for you if you'd like to talk about it," Jamie said.

"Thanks. Maybe some other time though," Zoe said as she smiled at him.

"Whenever you'd like," Jamie offered.

This sign of concern and affection by him towards his friend touched Clara. Maybe there was more to him than she thought. She would have to dig a little deeper and find out more about him as soon as this current crisis was all over with.

Back on the Wheel, the Doctor and Rose were tearing through the Daleks like they were made of tinfoil as they both went all out since there were no companions around to worry about accidentally injuring if they did. Rose was quite proud of herself actually. So far she hadn't even had to use her Bad Wolf powers on the Daleks once. She was beating them all just with the skills that she had learned at Torchwood and the Time Lord Academy along with her trusty vortex screwdriver.

"You know you're pretty dangerous even without the Vortex," the Doctor said in admiration as Rose destroyed several Daleks at once with a carefully planned attack that had them shooting each other as she ducked out of the way of their blasts at the very last second.

"Aren't you glad that I'm on your side?" Rose asked with a smug smile on her face.

"Ever since the day I first met you," the Doctor said as he gave her a quick kiss just before he sent several Daleks flying against the wall to their doom by screwing up their shells' internal gyroscopes with his sonic screwdriver.

Then a huge force of Cybermen suddenly appeared out of nowhere as they burst into the station and started firing on the Daleks. The Doctor and Rose suddenly found themselves in the middle of an enormous firefight as the blasts from the two opposing forces went flying in all directions.

That was when everything went downhill.

"We will take this station. The device must be ours to use against our enemies. With it, the Cybermen will be invincible," the Cyber Leader ordered his forces.

The Cybermen began to put an even bigger dent in the Dalek forces even as the Doctor and Rose did their best to stop both sides. The whole situation had just turned even more deadly now, and it was all that the two Time Lords could do to keep themselves alive. There were so many Daleks and Cybermen around that they couldn't even make it back to the TARDIS because the station was packed so full of them.

The Daleks had already been heavily devastated by the Doctor and Rose so this sudden attack by the Cybermen was now proving to be very fatal to them. Their numbers were falling steadily by the minute the longer that the battle lasted. They knew that they didn't have much longer before the Cybermen would completely overrun them.

"THE DEVICE MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF OTHERS. IT MUST BE USED TO FREE SKARO FROM THE FALSE EMPRESS. WE MUST PREVENT IT FROM BEING STOLEN. WE MUST USE THE DEVICE TO DESTROY THE INVADERS," the Supreme Dalek shouted.

"IT IS UNPROVEN. IT MAY DESTROY US AS WELL," another Dalek pointed out.

"THEN WE WILL DIE EXTERMINATING OUR GREATEST ENEMIES," the Supreme Dalek said.

"EXTERMINATE THEM! EXTERMINATE THEM!" the Daleks began to chant together as the entire station began to start glowing.

The Daleks and the Cybermen all began to immediately start aging and falling apart even as they fought, and they soon started disintegrating together at the same time. The bodies of the crew in sick bay were instantly aged to death as well. Rose looked on in horror as even the Doctor's body started to visibly age in front of her. She and the baby were unaffected by whatever was occurring only because of the protection of the Bad Wolf. She wondered how much longer that would last though. She never did know for sure if she was immortal or not even with her Vortex powers.

Rose tried to turn whatever was going on off with her Vortex powers, but she quickly found that the entire place was protected with Vortex shielding which prevented her from being able to tamper with it. She couldn't turn the aging effects off or even teleport herself and the Doctor off of the station.

To her surprise, the TARDIS wasn't allowing the two of them inside either. Then she realized why. It was completely sealing itself off from all forms of outside contact and had its shields extended to maximum power in a desperate attempt to protect itself and its occupants from the strange glow's effects.

With her power, she could break through even the TARDIS' shields if she tried, but she was afraid to. She might instantly kill both the TARDIS and her friends if she did so.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"It's something that I hoped that I would never see again. The Daleks have somehow turned the entire station into a giant new and improved version of the Time Destructor. It rapidly increases the flow of time around it and can age most living beings to dust in a matter of minutes. A version of it this huge could destroy all life on an entire planet if it were brought within orbit of it. It might even start to affect the TARDIS if it stays here long enough," the Doctor said as he quickly held out his sonic screwdriver and put it on a pre-determined setting before pressing a button.

Rose looked at the setting and said, "She's going to be furious at you. I know I was when you did it to me."

"At least she'll still be alive to be furious," the Doctor said as he collapsed to the ground while his hair turned gray.

"Doctor!" Rose called out in concern.

Clara looked at the console in surprise as the TARDIS suddenly starting taking off by itself. She ran to the controls and tried to get it to stop, but none of the controls would respond.

"Stop! Stop! You can't leave them there!" Clara shouted.

A hologram of the Doctor appeared saying, "If you can hear this message, Clara, it means that Emergency Program One has been initiated. That means that the TARDIS is automatically sending you home to protect you from something extremely dangerous that I'm not sure that I'll be coming back from. I'm so sorry, Clara. I just want you to know that you are the sister that I always wanted, and I love you just like you're a member of my own family. Have a good life, Clara. Take care of yourself, and don't worry about me."

"No! No!" Clara screamed as she beat on the console in impotent rage.

**Next: What will happen to the Doctor and Rose? Will they be aged to death? Will Clara ever get back to them? For that matter, will the Daleks get to use the destructive power of the Wheel on Oswin and her Daleks on Skaro?**


	4. Going Backwards In Time

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews!**

GOING BACKWARDS IN TIME

"Leave me. Save yourself before it starts to affect you or the baby," the Doctor said to Rose in concern as he started looking more and more like his first incarnation had at the end.

"Not a chance, Doctor. After everything that I've gone through to get back to you, I'm not about to leave you for dead now. No way," Rose said firmly.

Rose dragged him down the corridor as he did his best to help her. She finally managed to get him to an airlock after several minutes of going through corridors.

"Hold your breath, Doctor, and hold onto me," Rose said as she wrapped one arm around him and used the other to open the door.

They were both sucked out into space and floated away from the station. Time Lords could survive exposure to space for a short time without dying as long as they had an air supply, and Rose was taking full advantage of this fact. She waited until they were out of range of the effects of the Time Destructor, and then smiled at the Doctor as she summoned the power of the Bad Wolf.

They were both surrounded in a force field of Vortex energy as Rose created an oxygen supply for the Doctor to breathe. She didn't need to breathe anymore since she had become the Bad Wolf, but it still felt good to do so. Not breathing made her feel uneasy as if she were going too far away from the humanity that she treasured.

The Doctor slowly returned to his normal age as he said, "You really are the most amazing person that I've ever known, Rose Tyler."

"That's funny. That's what I always think about you," Rose said as she gave him a short peck on the lips.

The Doctor looked out into space in wonder as he saw it through Rose's force field. This was definitely the most unique way that he had ever traveled before in his life, and that was saying something.

"It's the only way to see space, isn't it?" Rose said with a grin.

"Can you take us back to the TARDIS now? We have to come up with a plan to stop the Wheel before the Daleks can use it on Skaro. Also I imagine Clara's worried sick about us right now," the Doctor said.

"She'll probably slap you when she sees you next time. I know I wanted to when you sent me back home. That is where you sent her, isn't it?" Rose asked.

"Actually, I sent her to Skaro. Oswin needs to be told about this as soon as possible," the Doctor said.

"You were still thinking about saving her and the others even at the last minute," Rose said with pride.

"I never thought that I'd be trying to save some Daleks," the Doctor said.

"I'm not sure if I have enough power to teleport us to Skaro or not yet. The Vortex shielding was weakening me because it was cutting me off from the Vortex. If I had stayed in there much longer, I would have started aging too. I think we're just going to have to settle for floating through space for a little while," Rose admitted.

"For how long?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't know. Probably about fifteen minutes or so. My power is already building back up," Rose said.

"That long, huh?" the Doctor asked impatiently.

"You can wait a little while, Doctor. They'll all be safe with Oswin anyway. There's no need to worry," Rose said.

"I wonder," the Doctor said.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"We're extremely far away from Skaro. How were the Daleks planning on getting the Wheel to Skaro? It couldn't go there by itself. Surely they would have had a plan to get it there quickly when they had it perfected, and they just perfected it," the Doctor said.

As soon as he said that, the Wheel faded out of existence, and both Time Lords felt it as it began to travel through the Vortex. Rose could even determine its destination.

"It's going to Skaro. Did they make it into some kind of time ship?" Rose asked.

"I think that they're using one of their time corridors. They probably reactivated one of the old ones left behind on Skaro and are using it to send the Wheel straight there. We need to get back there quickly. Come on, think! Think!" the Doctor said to himself impatiently.

He stared at Rose intently for a moment, and she smiled as she knew that he was coming up with something brilliant. Something only the Doctor would think of.

"The pencil in the cup," the Doctor said with a huge grin on his face.

"What?" Rose asked in confusion.

"I told you about how I first met Donna, right?" the Doctor asked.

"She just suddenly appeared in the TARDIS right after I was trapped in Pete's World at Canary Wharf. Something about Huon Particles if I remember right," Rose said.

"You listened," the Doctor said impressed.

"I always listen to your stories," Rose said with a grin.

"Donna was being given regular does of Huon Particles in her coffee. That's what caused her to be drawn into the TARDIS. Her Huon Particles were drawn to the Huon Particles in the Heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor said excitedly.

"Oh, was that all it was? Her appearing as soon as I left was just a coincidence, is that what you think?" Rose asked with a huge grin on her face.

The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes as he said, "You sent her to me, didn't you? Later on when you became the White Guardian I mean. You already said once that you were behind several of the things that happened to me after you left me. You didn't just bring Donna to me to fulfill the DoctorDonna prophecy though, did you? You wanted me to have someone to talk to so that I wouldn't be lonely right after losing you."

"What do you think? So you want me to activate any Huon Particles that I might have inside of me and hope that it draws us to the TARDIS, is that it?" Rose asked.

"Yes, if you have them. You did look into the Heart of the TARDIS once so I guessed that you would," the Doctor said hopefully.

"Do I have Huon Particles? You better believe I do," Rose said as she began to glow even brighter now as she activated the particles inside of her.

"I knew it! You looked into the Heart of the TARDIS plus you're a creature of the Vortex. You would have to be filled with Huon Particles," the Doctor said in triumph.

"A creature? Did you just call me a creature?" Rose asked in anger even as she wrapped her arms around him tightly so that he wouldn't be left behind if this idea worked.

"I didn't mean anything by it," the Doctor said as he looked at her nervously.

"I know. I just wanted to see that look on your face," Rose said mischievously as she kissed him tenderly.

"Nowadays, I never know what to expect from you, Rose. I never know whether you're going to kiss me or slap the living daylights out of me," the Doctor admitted.

"Good, that's just the way I want it. It keeps you on your toes, and it always keeps you respectful of me," Rose said.

"I've always respected you," the Doctor protested.

"Yes, you have, but you've also been quite rude in the past. I've noticed that you aren't rude to me lately though," Rose said with a grin.

"You should be glad that you're so wonderful, Rose Tyler, or I wouldn't put up with that kind of treatment from you," the Doctor said as he kissed her with a huge smile on his face.

"I'm sorry if I go too far sometimes. I don't want to make you afraid of me. It's just a game that I play. You know I love you," Rose said as she became serious.

"I know, Rose. I love you too," the Doctor said as he kissed her again.

The two of them were so absorbed in each other that they didn't even notice when they were suddenly back on the TARDIS again. They continued to kiss even as the others in the Console Room stared at them.

The TARDIS had just landed, and Clara had been about to check where they were on the console when the Doctor and Rose suddenly appeared. Clara rolled her eyes as she knew from past experience that those two might kiss for another hour if no one stopped them.

Clara tapped the Doctor on the shoulder, but he didn't respond. So she tapped him again even harder. There was still no response. Finally she hauled back and punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could.

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted in surprise as he looked around him to see that he was now on the TARDIS while he rubbed his shoulder.

Rose giggled at him as the Doctor said, "I thought you had us surrounded in a force field. How did she get in?"

"I saw her and dropped the force field," Rose admitted.

"Thanks a lot for telling me about it," the Doctor said as he pouted.

Clara glared at him as she said in an accusing tone, "You sent me away."

"I wanted you and the others to be safe," the Doctor said.

"You sent me away," Clara said in anger.

"I didn't want anything to happen to you. You're my best friend," the Doctor admitted.

Clara's face remained angry as she walked closer to him then she hugged him tightly and her face softened as she said, "I'm so glad the two of you are okay."

She quickly hugged Rose too as she said, "I know that I shouldn't worry about you. You're the Bad Wolf. I still do though. I feel like it's my job to take care of both of you."

"That's exactly how we feel about you," Rose said as she kissed Clara's forehead.

"I told you that they both love her deeply. She's like a part of their family," Polly whispered to Jamie.

"Who wouldn't love Clara?" Jamie whispered back with a serious look on his face.

Polly shook her head at him and so did Zoe. They both could tell that he was deeply in love with Clara now.

The Doctor quickly went to the console and saw that they had just landed on Skaro, and that the TARDIS was now surrounded by Daleks. That would usually be a cause of concern for him, but he could tell that Oswin's Daleks were more curious than ready for war. Several lifetimes of fighting with Daleks had made him a master at judging their moods.

"Rose, maybe you should go out there first. The Daleks might forget that they're friendly if they see me first," the Doctor suggested.

"Daleks?" Jamie and Zoe both asked with a frightened expression on their faces.

"These Daleks are friendly. They're the ones who work under Oswin," Polly explained.

"Oh, you mean the one who looks like Clara?" Jamie asked intrigued.

"That's the one," Polly said.

"I have to meet her," Jamie said with an eager look on his face.

"Why? Do you want her as a back-up girlfriend in case our Clara turns you down?" Zoe teased him.

"No. I doubt anyone could ever fill Clara's place in my heart not even her," Jamie said.

Clara looked at him in surprise as she overheard this. She knew that she was going to have to talk to him very soon. There was something that she had to tell him before this went on any further.

Rose opened the front doors to the TARDIS even as she said with a sigh, "Scared of a few Daleks. I'm surprised at you."

The Daleks instantly moved back from Rose with a combination of fear and respect. Rose tried to look as non-threatening as possible as she said, "Where's Oswin? Where is your Empress? We came here to warn her about a deadly threat coming to attack you soon."

Oswin suddenly appeared next to her as she said, "You mean the Wheel?"

"Is it already here?" the Doctor asked as he suddenly popped his head out of the TARDIS.

Several Daleks turned their gun sticks toward the Doctor instinctively, and he eyed them nervously as Oswin answered, "We just picked it up. It's trying to come here through an old time corridor. So far we're blocking it from materializing, but the renegade Daleks aren't giving up. It will probably be here any minute now. All of you have got to go now while you still can!"

"She's not what I expected," Jamie said.

"What do you mean?" Clara asked.

"She looks like you and acts like you, but she's not you. I should have known that you're too special for there to ever be two of you," Jamie said as he smiled at her.

Clara took Jamie's hand and started leading him toward her room on the TARDIS for some privacy. She had to tell him something right now. She wasn't going to string him along. She couldn't do that to him.

As soon as they were alone, Clara said, "I care a lot about you, Jamie, but I don't love you. All of that flirting that we were doing doesn't mean what you obviously think it means. I thought that you knew that we were just playing around. I'm so sorry. I don't want to hurt you, but I don't love you. I can't let you continue to think that I do."

"I know that you don't, but I had hoped that maybe someday that you would. Can you honestly tell me that will never happen?" Jamie asked.

Clara hesitated and said, "No. I can't. I don't want to give you false hope though. You deserve better than that."

"As long as there's a chance though, then I won't give up. Not until I'm sure," Jamie said.

Clara looked at him in disbelief as she said, "I think that your chance might be very small."

"I'll still take it. I'm a betting man when it comes to love," Jamie said.

Clara started to become extremely upset, and Jamie immediately noticed it as he said, "Don't you worry about me. I know what I'm doing, and I know that there's a good chance that you'll never feel about me the same way that I feel about you. I've still got to try though. I owe it to myself to. You're worth any potential heartbreak, Clara Oswald."

Jamie hugged Clara tightly as she said, "I'm not worth it, Jamie. Find someone else."

"You let me be the judge of that, won't you?" Jamie said as he kissed her cheek.

Clara walked away from him feeling two inches tall. At least she had been honest with him though.

Meanwhile Oswin was still trying to convince the Doctor and Rose to leave, but the two of them refused to go. "You don't understand. There's a Time Destructor on the Wheel. It will age you all into dust in a matter of minutes," the Doctor warned.

"The Daleks created the Time Destructor, Doctor, and they have a way to counteract it," Oswin said with a grin.

"What exactly?" the Doctor asked curiously.

The Wheel suddenly appeared above Skaro at that exact moment as it finally made it through the time corridor. Oswin began to immediately start aging as she ordered, "Use our Time Destructor device."

Oswin was quickly returned to her normal age as the other Time Destructor went online. Her Daleks' Time Destructor was set on reverse and was now canceling the other one out.

"You can't expect this stalemate to last forever. You of all people should know how smart they are," the Doctor pointed out.

As soon as he said that, the Doctor noticed that Oswin was starting to become younger. He looked around and noticed to his horror that everyone else was too including him. The Daleks had switched their Destructor to reverse too!

"Everyone, get into the TARDIS! She'll protect us from the Destructor's effects!" the Doctor shouted.

Everyone rushed into the TARDIS, and the Doctor quickly shut the door. He could see that even though the TARDIS had stopped the Destructor's effects that in the time that it had taken for everyone to get inside that they had all visibly changed in appearance.

Including himself.

"Welll, it looks like I got us back inside of her just a moment too late," the now Tenth Doctor said as he ran his fingers through a familiar head of hair.

"You think, Doctor?" Rose said as she rolled her eyes at him.

The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and scanned her and everyone else in the room. He smiled as he said, "At least the effects have stopped, but they don't seem to be reversing anytime soon. You're human again by the way, Rose. Do you still remember who you are?"

"Do I remember that I'm your wife and that I owe you a huge slap? Yes, I do," Rose said with a grin.

"Well, at least some things never change," the Doctor said as he kissed her.

"That's the first time that you ever kissed me with that mouth, and I wasn't Cassandra," Rose said as she eagerly kissed him back.

"That was one reason that I knew that she wasn't you. Her kiss was purely lust. I knew that yours would never be," the Doctor admitted.

Rose smiled at him as she said, "You just talked yourself out of a slap, Mister."

Then she kissed him again and he smiled.

Clara and Jamie reentered the Console Room to find to their surprise that everyone had become younger or changed in some way. Clara recognized the Tenth Doctor from the memories of her other selves, she recognized Oswin from her own mirror from when she was a teenager, Rose looked the same but was somehow different, Zoe looked like she was about thirteen, and Polly . . . Polly actually looked older! She looked like she was in her sixties again.

"What the?!" Clara and Jamie said as they looked at all of this in amazement.

"Hello, Clara, Jamie! I'm the Doctor even if I don't look like the one that you know. What's happened here is that we've all been de-aged a few years. The Time Destructor was reversed, and it made us all just a little bit younger. I can only imagine what it's done to those poor Daleks out there. Now there's a phrase that I never thought that I'd hear myself saying! Oh, and Polly is older because she was originally in her sixties not too long ago until she was made younger again recently. Does that catch everybody up?" the Doctor explained with a huge smile on his face.

"Not really, no," Jamie said as he still looked very confused.

"That's too bad really because I just don't have time to explain right now. You'll just have to learn to catch up or be left behind," the Doctor said as he ran to the monitor.

"You're being rude," Rose reminded him.

The Doctor smiled fondly as he said, "I am, aren't I? I miss the Frenchman. Don't tell him that I ever said that though."

"Right now you are the Frenchman," Rose reminded him.

"Oh, yeah. I won't tell me then," the Doctor said as he started to watch what was going on outside.

Rose rolled her eyes at him as Jamie said, "And I thought that the other Doctor was weird."

"You don't know the half of it," Clara said with a knowing smile on her face. She had seen all of the Doctors after all and knew exactly just how strange that they could get.

"The Daleks outside have all stopped moving. They've probably been reverted to embryos. Assuming that is that they haven't been de-aged out of existence completely. This is bad," the Doctor said as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration again.

"You're telling me. My Daleks may be all erased from existence, and I'm a teenager again! Please tell me that you can fix this, Doctor!" Oswin complained.

"At least you're not a kid again," Zoe complained.

"At least none of you are old all over again when you finally got used to being young," Polly said.

"Oi! Is everyone going to start complaining because if you are I'm never going to get anything done?" the Doctor said in an angry voice.

"Still rude," Rose said.

"Sorry, everyone," the Doctor said in an apologetic voice.

"I love how she can control him with just a few words," Jamie said to Clara with a smile.

The Doctor started to think really hard until finally he came up with an idea as he shouted, "Molto Bene! That's it! That should work. Rose, do you still have your Vortex powers?"

"No, I'm afraid not. I'm just plain old Rose now. No powers, no Time Lord abilities, just me."

"I'd still rather have no one else by my side. I'd be lost without my pink and yellow human," the Doctor said as he smiled at her.

Rose smiled at him as she said, "So your plan doesn't need the Bad Wolf then?"

"No, she would have made it easier though. It doesn't matter. I can still do this just with the help of my old girl here. Can't I, old girl?" the Doctor said as he lovingly stroked the console.

"I hate it when you do that," Rose said with a shudder.

"What?" the Doctor asked in confusion.

"Stroking bits of the console. It's pretty creepy, Doctor," Clara said.

"Tell me about it. I used to wonder what he would do when I wasn't around watching him," Oswin said.

The Doctor looked at her oddly for a moment until he remembered that she was the original Clara and traveled with him in a now erased timeline remembered only by her, Rose, and a few others. He sometimes wondered if he should take her on a trip sometime to make up for that. He knew that she must miss her old life sometimes.

"He used to do it when I traveled with him too," Polly said.

"Aye, same here. I always thought it strange," Jamie admitted.

Rose laughed at the growing anger on his face as he finally said, "If you don't mind, I'm trying to save the day here."

"Go ahead, Doctor. No one's stopping you," Rose said as she continued to laugh at him.

The Doctor's anger magically disappeared as he saw Rose's smiling face. He could never stay mad when she was around no matter what.

He quickly raced to the console as he worked to carry out his plan. He just hoped that this worked or he was going to wind up stuck as the Frenchman again. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

No, no! He had to remain strong. He would be his old new self again. He would not be stuck this way, and he would definitely not like it. No, not at all!

"Clara, keep that switch held down there. Rose, hold that one down. Okay, everyone hold on. We're going right back to the Wheel. Allons-y!" the Doctor said as he dematerialized the TARDIS.

The TARDIS began to shake and shudder violently as soon as it appeared back inside of the Wheel. The Doctor could tell that here at the heart of the Wheel that even his ship was being affected by the Time Destructor and was getting younger. It's a good thing that his ship was already so old so that he didn't have to worry about her fading out of existence. At least not yet anyway.

"I'm going to have to open the doors for this to work. We're all going to start de-aging again as soon as I do but hopefully this will work quickly. Alright then. Ready? Now!" the Doctor said as he opened the TARDIS doors and then opened the Heart of the TARDIS wide open.

It was the Ninth Doctor's Northern accent that now said, "All of you shield your eyes unless you want them burned out of their sockets!"

Rose however walked right up to the Heart with a smile on her face. She began to glow with power again as the Doctor looked at her in wonder. She never ceased to impress him.

"Fantastic!" he whispered to himself as he looked at her.

"So do you think that the Vortex shielding will prevent what you're trying to do?" Rose asked as she used the power of the Vortex to prevent herself from getting any younger even as everyone else around her continued to.

"It shouldn't. Any moment now even the shielding should be melted by the raw power of the Vortex being poured into it non-stop. Even the Bad Wolf can't match the Heart of the TARDIS for pure intensity. It actually links directly to the Vortex itself without any go-between," the now Eighth Doctor explained.

Rose looked around with worry at their now extremely young friends. Only she, Polly, and the Doctor were still adults. Everyone else was a young child or a pre-teen.

"If the Heart doesn't do its job soon, you and I may be the only ones left," Rose said.

"Have patience, Rose. Every good plan has its flaws but all of the best ones eventually work if given enough time no matter how many roadblocks are put into their way. In the end, Time conquers all," the Seventh Doctor said.

"You were really a ham in this incarnation, weren't you?" Rose said with a grin.

She turned back to see that Polly was now beginning to look like her normal self again, but that everyone else were now toddlers or infants. This was getting very, very bad.

"Don't worry, Rose. My great genius hasn't let me down yet," the Sixth Doctor said with a pompous air to him.

"Canary Wharf," Rose reminded him.

"That was due to circumstances beyond my control. You refused to leave, and I never could change your mind about anything once it was made up," the Doctor said.

"That's true," Rose said with a smile.

She turned around again to see that everyone but Polly had now vanished. Polly was almost back to her regular age again, and she looked incredibly sad now.

"Are they gone for good? Am I next?" Polly asked in a combination of fear and sorrow.

"It's going to be alright. I promise. When things are fixed, I'll restore all of you," Rose promised even though she wasn't sure that she could.

She looked back at the Fifth Doctor who said, "Brave heart, Rose. Even the heaviest Vortex shielding can't last much longer."

"Maybe I should help out a little bit," Rose said as she began to glow brighter and brighter and added her power to that of the Heart's.

There was an enormous explosion within minutes, and the Fourth Doctor shouted, "You've done it! Some of the Vortex shielding has been broken through! Now the whole Wheel is starting to break up. Hold on, Rose!"

The Doctor and Rose held hands as the Wheel began to break apart all around them and for the second time that day they were exposed to the vacuum of space. Rose could see that Polly was rapidly approaching the same age that she had been when she traveled with the Doctor.

Rose turned back to see the Third Doctor smiling at her as he said, "It's just like the good old days, isn't it? It's us against the universe just like when we were young."

"I've got news for you, Doctor. You almost are the same age that you were back then. If the Wheel doesn't break up soon, I'm going to be the only one left," Rose said in fear.

"Have a little faith, my dear. When have I ever led you astray?" the Second Doctor asked with a grinning face.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Rose said with a nervous smile.

"Eh? What was that? No matter. It'll soon be over with now, won't it?" the First Doctor said with a laugh of pure glee.

Polly was now the same age that she had started out as before. Only now this was the first time that she had been young. She smiled at seeing her old Doctor again. At least if she were going to fade out of existence, she would get to see him one more time before doing it.

The Wheel suddenly exploded, and the three of them were blown backwards back into the TARDIS as the doors automatically slammed shut for their protection. The Doctor quickly struggled to reach the console and dematerialized the TARDIS just in time to avoid being caught up in the worst of the explosion. Just as the TARDIS left, the Wheel disintegrated completely; and a new star was momentarily seen in the skies of Skaro. Or at least it would have been if anyone had still been there to see it.

The TARDIS materialized on the surface of Skaro just as time resumed its natural course, and everything was quickly put back to normal. The Doctor was now his regular bow tie wearing self, and Rose was a Time Lady once again as she smiled at her friends all having reappeared once more.

Everything was back to normal.

As Oswin and Clara shared stories with each other about what had happened since they had last met, Jamie smiled. He could see that Oswin was just like Clara's sister from the way the two of them acted around one another.

The two of them then went off alone together as Oswin said that she had something that she wanted to ask Clara in private.

"You always involve me in such interesting adventures, don't you, Doctor? Still it felt good to be human again if only for a little while. I guess I'll postpone that slap for that reason if nothing else. This time," Rose joked.

"You're already admitted that that's just a game, Rose," the Doctor pointed out with a smile.

"Did I?" Rose asked innocently right before she slapped him.

"Ow!" the Doctor shouted as he looked at her in shock.

"Maybe that was a part of the real game, Doctor. You never know," Rose said with an evil grin on her face.

"You enjoy playing with me, don't you?" the Doctor grumbled.

She kissed his cheek even as she said in a low voice that only he could hear, "You enjoy it too. Don't you?"

The Doctor briefly smiled at her before going back to pretending to be angry at her.

"Aye, she's his wife alright," Jamie said with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean," Clara asked indignantly as she came back into the room with Oswin.

"Nothing," Jamie said quickly.

"Don't be so hard on Jamie, Clara. He's a nice guy once you get to know him. I mean I assume he is anyway," Oswin said.

"Yes, of course. Of course he is. You're right, Oswin. I'll cut him some slack in the future," Clara said.

Jamie looked at the two of them oddly as he wondered what they were going on about. Clara was always nice to him.

"Well, I guess I'll stay behind here then. I'll see you again soon, Clara. Very soon I hope," Oswin said.

"You can count on it," Clara said.

Again something seemed to be going on beneath their words that Jamie couldn't figure out.

Oswin said good bye as she stayed behind on Skaro, and the TARDIS dematerialized. Rose now felt that it was her turn to go.

"I guess I should leave you to it then, Doctor. I've got to go take my crew on a little adventure all their own soon. Shareen will lynch me if I don't take her somewhere soon I'm sure," Rose said.

She turned to leave and then paused. She quickly kissed him as she said, "It was fun, Doctor. We should do something like that more often."

"Well, the next time a major time altering device comes along I'll be sure to let you know about it right away," the Doctor promised.

Rose smiled as she said, "You make sure and do that. I'll see you soon, Doctor."

She hesitated to leave yet again because she had enjoyed this last adventure so much, and then she finally turned to Clara and said, "Watch over him for me, okay? Tell Oswin that too when you see her again."

Clara looked at her in surprise for a moment before finally saying, "Yes, of course I will."

"Good. Good bye, everyone," Rose said before she vanished in a burst of golden energy.

"Well, where to next then? Does anyone have any suggestions?" the Doctor asked.

"I would like to find my parents. Do you know where they are?" Zoe suddenly said.

"No, but I can certainly try to find them for you, Zoe. Do you have any idea of where to start?" the Doctor asked.

Zoe started to tell the Doctor everything that she could remember about them as Jamie said, "I thought that she might leave once she started looking so sad. You won't get rid of me that quickly though, Clara. It would take a lot more than you're rejected me to convince me to leave. We McCrimmons have very hard heads. We're too stubborn for our own good."

Clara looked at him oddly for a moment as if she had no idea what he was talking about before she said, "Oh, yes, I'm sorry that I had to turn you down. You don't have any hard feelings though, do you?"

"No, of course not. It's just like I told you. I haven't given up yet as long as I have even a little bit of hope that you might change your mind about me," Jamie said with a smile.

"Oh, wonderful! Thanks a lot for not telling me about that," Clara said in a low voice as she gritted her teeth in irritation.

"What was that?" Jamie asked.

"Nothing, Jamie. Everything's okay," Clara said as she smiled at him.

"Are you sure?" Jamie asked in concern.

"Of course I'm sure," Clara said as she continued to give him a warm smile.

Before Jamie could ask her any more questions, a sudden transmission came over the console as a familiar voice to both the Doctor and Jamie started calling out for help.

"Can anyone hear me? Please help me! They're everywhere! If anyone can hear me, please help me!" a young woman's voice screamed in terror.

Jamie completely forgot about Clara's odd behavior as he said, "Where is that coming from, Doctor?"

"I don't know. I'm about to find out though. Don't worry, Jamie. We'll save her. I'm sorry, Zoe. I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a little bit longer to go see your parents," the Doctor said as he tried to track down the source of the broadcast.

"Jamie, who is that?" Zoe asked as she could see that he knew the owner of the voice.

"It's Victoria. Victoria Waterfield. She traveled with the Doctor and me just before you did. We have to save her," Jamie said in an extremely worried voice.

**Next: The Doctor finds his old companion Victoria Waterfield just in time to rescue her from an extremely dangerous situation. Or is everything not as it seems? In addition to that, Clara is acting very oddly lately and doesn't seem to be herself. She also doesn't seem to like Victoria very much. Just what is going on here?**


	5. VIctoria, What Big Eyes You Have!

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews!**

**This story takes place after the events of Oswin Oswald, Time's Guardian Chapters 34 and 35. **

VICTORIA, WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE!

The TARDIS landed in the middle of what looked like a warzone. It was a small village that looked like it had been completely devastated. All that the Doctor and his companions could see in every direction was ruins and debris everywhere.

"Where are we?" Polly asked as she looked at the devastation with complete distaste.

"This is or was a small village called Glaston. Victoria's transmission came from here. Somewhere," the Doctor said as he surveyed the ruins with a fearful gaze.

"Could she still be alive, Doctor? Do you think that whoever or whatever did this could have gotten her?" Jamie asked.

"I'm sure that she's alright, Jamie. She's very resourceful. She traveled with me after all so that shows how tough she is," the Doctor said with a grin.

"It certainly shows that she can hold her own against annoying aliens. That's for sure," Clara said.

"Yes, she was very brave when she went up against the Daleks and the Cybermen," the Doctor said.

"Them too. They weren't the annoying alien that I was talking about though," Clara said as she eyed the Doctor with a wicked smile.

"Very funny," the Doctor said annoyed.

"I thought so," Clara said with a huge smile as she hugged him.

"You're lucky I love you so much, Clara Oswald," the Doctor said as he smiled at her and returned the hug.

"Luck has nothing to do with it. I'm just a very lovable person. Ask anybody," Clara said.

"Will the two of you just stop? Victoria could be dying out there somewhere," Jamie said in a panicked voice.

"She's fine," Clara said in a voice of absolute certainty.

"How do you know that?" Jamie asked her in surprise.

Clara suddenly looked nervous as she said, "I just do. It's a gut feeling that I have."

"It could also be that you peeked over my shoulder when I was using the sonic earlier to check for life signs. There's one human life sign nearby that's very strong. It must be Victoria," the Doctor said.

"Yes, that's it. That's how I knew," Clara said a little too eagerly in Jamie's opinion.

"What about aliens or whatever was attacking Victoria? Does your screwdriver show you anything about them?" Jamie asked.

"That's the weird thing. It doesn't show anyone but us and her here. That can't be right though. Something had to cause this," the Doctor said in an intrigued voice.

"Maybe it's something that doesn't give off life signs," Zoe suggested.

"Either that or they know how to hide themselves even from someone as clever as me. Neither possibility sounds good, does it?" the Doctor said.

Jamie started to look extremely worried again so Clara smiled at him as she said, "I know for a fact that she's safe, Jamie. Don't worry about her."

Jamie just looked at her like she had grown a second head. Why was Clara acting so strangely?

"How close was Jamie to Victoria?" Polly whispered in the Doctor's ear.

"Very. We both were actually. She was orphaned by the Daleks and only had us to take care of her for a long time. We both felt a huge responsibility towards her and became like a surrogate family to her to make up for the loss of her father. I think that Jamie may have even fallen in love with her. I never was entirely sure of that though," the Doctor whispered back.

"I'm sure," Polly said as she looked at the worry and misery on Jamie's face.

Clara had heard what the Doctor said and felt terrible. The Daleks had destroyed this girl's life. That made finding her safe and sound even more imperative then. She wouldn't give up until she did and reunited her with Jamie.

"Follow me. The sonic will lead us to her," the Doctor said as the sonic started getting louder and louder the closer that they got to Victoria.

"Is there anything that sonic screwdriver of yours can't do?" Clara asked him with a smile.

"Plenty but I'm coming up with new settings and apps for it all of the time. Just yesterday I added a banana detector," the Doctor said happily.

"A banana detector?" Zoe asked in disbelief.

"To help me find any bananas that might be in the area. I used to love bananas when I wore all black and used to shout all of the time. I couldn't get enough of them. I even still liked them as the Frenchman. I'm more into fish fingers and custard these days, but you never know what my next incarnation might like. I thought that I'd be prepared just in case my next self likes bananas a lot again. Regeneration's a tricky business you know," the Doctor said as he rambled on and on.

"Bananas? Really?" Zoe asked as she laughed at him.

"Bananas are good," the Doctor said with a wry grin on his face as if that explained everything.

Suddenly the Doctor's happy mood was abruptly brought to an end though as they were surrounded by several Daleks. The Daleks all converged on them in a matter of moments and completely cut them off from any avenue of escape.

"YOU ARE THE DOCTOR. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" they began to shout together.

"Some life sign detector that thing is if it can't even detect your worst enemies!" Clara said with a sigh.

"It's still not detecting them. It's almost as if something or someone is hiding them from me," the Doctor said confused.

"What does it matter now? We know that they're here so what you should be worrying about is how we're going to get through the next minute in one piece, Doctor," Zoe said.

Oddly enough Clara looked completely unbothered by this. In fact, she was starting to smile.

Moments later, the Daleks found themselves surrounded as several more Daleks suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started firing on them. The two Dalek factions quickly went to war with each other, and the Doctor and the others used this distraction to get away from them.

"Is that why you looked so unworried, Clara? Did you know about this? Does Oswin guard you with her Daleks or something because you're like a sister to her?" Jamie asked intrigued.

Clara said nothing. She just smiled enigmatically at him.

Her smile quickly turned to a look of horror though as a young woman in her twenties came racing toward them with tears in her eyes. "Victoria!" Jamie shouted with a mixture of joy and relief as he embraced Victoria.

"Victoria, I'm so glad that you're alright. I was so worried about you," Jamie said with a huge smile on his face.

"I had no idea that I had gotten through to the Doctor. I was just trying to call anyone who would listen on an old ham radio that I found in the ruins. Everything around here has been destroyed by the Daleks. I've been hiding from them for days now. You have no idea how happy I am to see you again!" Victoria said as she kissed Jamie's cheek and made him blush.

"Victoria, how did you know how to operate a ham radio? You're from the nineteenth century," the Doctor said.

Clara smiled at him. He saw it right away. Well, of course he did. He always was the cleverest person that she knew.

"My adopted father taught me how. You have to know many different ways to communicate with the outside world when you're living on an offshore oil rig. Just in case you need to get help immediately," Victoria said.

"When I left you to live with the Harrises though, it was in the late nineteen sixties. This is 2013. Why do you only look like you're in your early twenties?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"Aye, you have aged very well for someone in their sixties," Jamie said as he looked at Victoria with a smile.

"I honestly don't know. I thought maybe you might. I just stopped aging once I hit a certain age. I never was able to understand it. I thought that maybe it might have been a side effect of traveling with you," Victoria said in an innocent voice.

Yeah, right! Clara said to herself as she rolled her eyes at her. She hoped that the Doctor wasn't falling for Victoria's Little Miss Innocent act like Jamie apparently was. He was falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

"You know who I am, Victoria. How do you know that? I never told you about regeneration; and even if I had talked to you about it, how would you know that this was me?" the Doctor asked pointedly.

"You're wearing a bow tie and traveling with Jamie. Who else would you be? As for your change in appearance, I wouldn't put anything past you. You always could surprise me," Victoria said with a giggle.

"Why are you asking all of these questions for, Doctor? It's like you're suspicious of Victoria for some reason," Jamie asked in a defensive voice.

"There are just several things about her that don't add up, Jamie," the Doctor warned.

"She's explained everything that you've asked her about, Doctor. Why are you bothering her for after everything that she's already gone through?" Jamie asked.

"The Doctor's just asking the same questions that everyone else but you is already wondering about," Clara said as she glared at Victoria.

"Are you jealous, Clara? You don't have to be like that. I only think of Victoria as a friend," Jamie said.

Clara shook her head at him. Jamie was so smitten with her that he couldn't see through her obvious lies. Even a two year old wouldn't fall for them.

"I'm sorry, Victoria. I guess that I've just gotten too suspicious in my old age. Come on. I'll take you back to the TARDIS and get you out of this place. I'm sure that you could use a nice change of clothes and something to eat," the Doctor said as he smiled at her.

"You should apologize, Doctor. Imagine treating poor Victoria like that," Jamie admonished him.

"It's okay, Jamie. Just look at this place. It's enough to set anyone on edge," Victoria said.

"Are you kidding me?" Clara whispered in the Doctor's ear as she stared at him in disbelief.

The Doctor simply smiled at her and whispered, "Trust me."

Then he turned and started to walk back toward the direction of the TARDIS.

"This way, Victoria. The TARDIS isn't far from here," the Doctor said.

"Don't think that you're fooling me. I know who you are just like you know who I am," Clara said to Victoria as she walked alongside her.

"I don't understand what you're talking about, and I don't know who you are at all," Victoria said.

"Oh, really? Then you won't be expecting this then, will you?" Clara said.

Suddenly gauntlets appeared over Clara's hands that had been hidden until now by a perception filter, and she held one of them to Victoria's head as it glowed with energy. "Tell them who you are!" she demanded.

Victoria looked at her with eyes filled with terror as Jamie cried out, "Clara, what are you doing?!"

"Oswin, I can assure you that she's not faking. She really doesn't know what you're talking about. Now please take your gauntlet away from my friend's head!" the Doctor ordered as he looked at her sternly.

"You knew?" Oswin asked as she looked at Victoria's face for any signs that she was faking.

"Yes. I know Clara so well now that I knew almost instantly when you had replaced her. You're just like her in many ways, but I can tell that you're not her. You're not that good of an actor, Oswin," the Doctor said.

"Oswin? Now it all makes sense. You switched places with the real Clara back in the TARDIS when you went to her room with her. Why though?" Jamie asked.

"Please," Victoria pleaded as she eyed Oswin's gauntlet in terror.

"Oswin, she's not possessed or under anyone else's influence in any way," the Doctor said.

"Are you sure?" Oswin asked even though she herself was starting to doubt that Victoria was faking.

"Oswin, stop it!" Jamie shouted.

Oswin powered down her gauntlet and lowered it as she said, "I'm so sorry. It's just that an enemy of mine took your form recently and tried to kill me twice. I thought that you were possessed by him, but he must have just been impersonating you."

Victoria looked at her with a surprised look on her face as she asked, "Was this enemy the Great Intelligence?"

Oswin nodded and the Doctor looked at both of them in alarm. So that was what this had been all about?

"I think that I was possessed by him. I thought that it was just a dream, but it must have been real," Victoria said.

"What are you talking about, Victoria?" Jamie asked.

"I've been having what I thought were only bad dreams lately where I was possessed by the Great Intelligence again just like I was that time when I travelled with you to the Himalayas," Victoria said to the Doctor.

"Why didn't either of you tell me about this?" the Doctor asked Oswin and Victoria.

"I thought that I was just dreaming. I mean why would I be taken over by the Great Intelligence again now after all of these years?" Victoria asked.

"Time means nothing to the Great Intelligence. Decades to him are more like seconds to a human," the Doctor said.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I should have told you about what I suspected right away. I thought that you already knew though from the questions that you were asking her," Oswin said.

"You were also afraid that I would catch onto the fact that you and Clara have been switching places for several days now so that you can have adventures with me in secret. Why didn't you just ask me if you could go with me?" the Doctor asked.

"That's because you don't really know me, and I thought that you'd say no. I just wanted to be Clara again every once in a while. I'm sorry," Oswin apologized.

"I understand. From now on when you want to travel with me though, Oswin, just ask. I'll be glad to let you come along. Having two Claras onboard can only be a good thing in my opinion," the Doctor said smiling.

The two of them embraced then as Clara said, "Thank you!"

"Are you okay, Victoria? Do you think that the Intelligence is still in you?" Jamie asked.

"I don't think so. I haven't had any weird dreams about him since the Daleks attacked. I was living in this little town after a lifetime of moving around from one place to another so that no one would notice that I never age. It's been a lonely life," Victoria admitted sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Victoria. I didn't know. Obviously the Great Intelligence did something to you when he possessed you before to lengthen your lifespan. He's done that to his host bodies before. He must have kept you around in peak condition so that he could use you again later if he wanted to. He's a master strategist and is always thinking ahead," the Doctor said.

"The last time that I saw Victoria the Intelligence had become a partner with the renegade Daleks against me. Is it really a coincidence that they're here now in the same place as her?" Oswin asked.

"I swear that I'm not possessed anymore. At least not as far as I know," Victoria said.

"You're not. The sonic would have detected it. That's how I knew that you weren't still possessed by him because I scanned you with it," the Doctor said.

"Your sonic didn't detect the Daleks earlier though, did it? Because of that we can't really be sure that there isn't still some remnant of him still in Victoria somewhere even though she's okay now. I'm sure that the Intelligence was behind cloaking the Daleks from you so he might be doing the same thing to Victoria. This still smells like some kind of trap to me," Oswin said.

"I know. I have no idea what the Intelligence could be planning this time though. Not yet anyway," the Doctor said.

"There you are, Clara. I've been looking all over for you. The renegade Daleks are either gone or destroyed now. It's all over with," Clara said as she came running up to them still pretending to be Oswin.

"You can stop now, Clara. He knows," Oswin said.

"Really? I'm so glad! I really hate this sneaking around pretending to be who I'm not. I'm terrible at it," Clara admitted.

"So am I apparently," Oswin said.

"That's because neither one of you is a good liar. That's a good thing though," the Doctor said with a smile.

"I guess we'll just go back to the TARDIS and change clothes. I'm going back with my Daleks. My Daleks were watching over you by the way, Victoria," Oswin admitted.

"What? When?" Victoria asked in surprise.

"They found you and helped keep the renegade Daleks from finding you too and hearing your transmissions. They were the ones who redirected your transmissions to the TARDIS so that I would hear them. They've been helping you out in secret for the last few days or you wouldn't have survived. They didn't tell me who you were though or I would have been suspicious of you a lot earlier. I think that they must have figured it out for themselves that you weren't possessed anymore just like the Doctor did. I just wished that they had told me about it," Oswin said.

"It was obvious to me. You should have listened to me," Jamie said.

"I thought that you were just blinded by your feelings for her," Oswin said.

"What feelings? We're just friends," Jamie said as Victoria blushed and turned away from him.

"It's nothing, Jamie. Just skip it," the Doctor said as he smiled at the others.

"I still wish that I knew what this was all about. Surely the Daleks were here for some reason," Zoe said.

"That's true. The Daleks never do anything without a good reason for it," Polly agreed.

"I know but I still have no idea what that reason was yet. One thing that I do know is that whatever it is will become clear eventually. The Daleks never have given up a plan to kill me yet, and I don't think that they've started now," the Doctor said.

"Well, that's comforting," Polly said with a smile.

"I'm glad that I'm leaving then," Zoe said.

As she realized what she had just said, she quickly added, "I didn't mean it like that. Of course I'll miss all of you. I just don't want to do this anymore. I just want to find my parents and have a normal life with them. I want the kind of life that I never got to have with them."

"I understand, Zoe. I'll take you there as soon as we're done here," the Doctor said.

"Thank you, Doctor. You will come back by and visit sometimes, won't you?" Zoe asked.

"Of course," the Doctor said a little too quickly.

"Rule number one," Oswin said to herself.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"Nothing," Oswin said as she smiled at her to cover up what she had just said.

She exchanged glances with the Doctor who looked away confirming what she had suspected. They both knew that the Doctor would probably never see Zoe again. He almost never went back to see old companions again. He always moved on without looking back. Of course, Rose might have different ideas so who knew?

"I suppose I'll be going now. My Daleks can take me back with them. Let's go change, Clara," Oswin said once they finally reached the TARDIS.

Victoria looked at the Doctor nervously as she said, "Doctor, do you think that I could travel with you again? I don't really fit in anywhere else. Besides that, I want you to be there to stop me if I get taken over again. I think that the Intelligence was trying to get me to hurt people from what little that I remember of my dreams. I don't want him in my mind anymore."

"Of course you can stay, Victoria. I'll do everything that I can to keep you from getting taken over again. Maybe I should take you to see an old friend of mine, K'anpo. He can teach you several mental shielding techniques that might work in keeping the Intelligence out of your mind," the Doctor suggested.

"I'll do anything that might help. I don't want that thing in my brain anymore. Who knows what he had planned to do with me?" Victoria asked with a shiver.

"He won't do anything to you anymore, Victoria. The Doctor and I will keep you safe from him now," Jamie said confidently.

Polly turned to Clara who had just emerged from the TARDIS with Oswin and said, "I don't think that you have to worry about Jamie's little crush on you anymore now that Victoria's here."

"Good. I certainly hope so. I like him and I didn't want to keep breaking his heart," Clara admitted with relief in her voice.

"Good bye, everyone! I'd like to come back as me sometime and travel with you again, Doctor. How about it?" Oswin asked.

"Anytime you want, Oswin. Just say the word," the Doctor said.

"Thank you again," Oswin said as she hugged him. Then she teleported away.

"It's so nice to have the real Clara back. I liked Oswin but there's just no substitute for the real thing," Jamie said.

"I agree, Jamie. There's no one else like Clara not even another Clara," the Doctor said as he embraced her and kissed her forehead.

Clara smiled a sinister grin behind his back. The plan had worked completely. The Doctor had been completely fooled by that little bit of misdirection. The Great Intelligence had been so busy making the Doctor concentrate on what the Daleks had been up to and the mystery surrounding Victoria's sudden reappearance that he never even saw that Clara had been taken over by him right under his nose.

The Intelligence had taken Clara as soon as she arrived on Earth with Oswin's Daleks, and no one had even noticed. Now the Intelligence had the perfect body to hide in until the time was right to gain his revenge on the Doctor. He was hiding in plain sight right beside him in the body of his best friend.

He would never suspect that Clara wasn't what she seemed until it was far too late. His companions always had been his greatest weakness, and now the Intelligence was going to use his trust and devotion to them to his full advantage.

The irony of this plan was almost beyond belief. The Intelligence had once been stopped from killing the Doctor by one Clara, and now he was going to use another one to finally destroy him forever! The Doctor would never even see it coming.

**Next: Even as the Great Intelligence plots and schemes against the Doctor while possessing Clara, Zoe finally gets to see her parents again at last. Will this family reunion go as well as she hopes though? Also will the Doctor be able to see through the Great Intelligence's deception as easily as he did Oswin's? **


	6. The Great Intelligence Strikes

CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews!**

THE GREAT INTELLIGENCE STRIKES

The Doctor landed the TARDIS at the address that Zoe had given him for her parents, and Zoe stood there at the TARDIS doors in hesitation. She seemed absolutely terrified to leave.

The Doctor smiled at her as he said, "You don't have to go you know. You can stay with me as long as you want."

"What if they don't accept me? What if they tell me to leave?" Zoe asked.

"I'll stay here until you give me the signal to go," the Doctor reassured her.

"As comforting as I know that is to her, that's not what she wants to hear, Doctor. They're going to love you, Zoe. Don't worry about it. Just go out there and talk to them, and everything will be fine," Polly said confidently.

"Do you really think so?" Zoe asked nervously.

"Yes, I do. They're your parents. Of course, they'll love you," Polly said.

Zoe seemed to visibly relax at that as she said, "Thanks, Polly. I'm glad that I got to meet you. You're just as sweet as Jamie always told me that you were."

"Thank you," Polly said as she embraced her.

Jamie then walked up to Zoe and embraced her next as he said, "Good bye, Zoe. I'm glad that you're finally getting to go home. Do you think that your parents will let me come by and visit you sometimes?"

"Of course they will. If they even want me that is," Zoe said.

"They'll want you, Zoe. I'm sure of it. You're a great girl. Anyone would be glad to have you as a daughter," Jamie said as he hugged her.

The Doctor embraced her last as he said, "Good bye, Zoe. I almost don't want to let you go. I already lost you once."

"Come and visit me then," Zoe said.

"I'll do my best to," the Doctor said.

This time he meant it. Oswin had made him realize just how much that he should come and see her again. He knew that Rose would want him to as well and that he'd hear about it from her if he didn't.

Zoe took a deep breath and looked back at them all one last time before finally walking out the door. The Doctor watched on the monitor as she slowly walked up to the front door of her parents' home and knocked on it.

He was overjoyed as he saw the door open, and a woman who looked like Zoe greeted her with a warm smile. The two of them talked for a moment, and then they embraced before Zoe went inside and shut the door behind her.

The Doctor really hoped for her sake that that was the last that he would see of Zoe until he came back to visit. He was going to wait for at least thirty minutes before he left though just to make sure.

"What was all of that about with Zoe?" Victoria asked Jamie.

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked.

"I just noticed that you seemed very upset to see her go. Were you and she . . ."

"No, we're just friends. She's like a sister to me," Jamie said firmly.

"Good," Victoria said in a low voice.

"What?" Jamie asked.

"That's good. That the two of you are such good friends I mean," Victoria said nervously.

"Oh, aye. We weren't as close as you and I are though," Jamie said.

Then he looked almost scared as he said, "We are still close, aren't we? I mean you said that you were actually in your 60s so I just wondered if you still felt the same way about me."

"I'll always be close to you, Jamie McCrimmon. I feel exactly the same about you now that I did over forty years ago. That hasn't changed," Victoria said.

"Good because I would hate to think that we weren't friends anymore," Jamie said with a huge smile.

"You'll always be special to me," Victoria said with a huge smile of her own.

"Why don't they just admit how they feel about each other already?" Polly whispered to Clara in disbelief.

The Great Intelligence in Clara's body just shrugged and said nothing. He knew nothing about human love or any love for that matter. Such emotions were beyond him.

All he cared about was his revenge on the Doctor. He was determined to destroy the Doctor this time no matter what he had to do in order to accomplish it.

"Are you alright? You're not acting like yourself lately," Polly asked in concern.

"I'm fine. I guess I just feel a little down lately. That's all," Clara said.

"You really do have feelings for Jamie, don't you? It's killing you to see him with Victoria, isn't it?" Polly asked.

The Intelligence decided to go with this in order to avert any further suspicion as he had Clara say, "Yes, I suppose I do. I didn't realize that I had feelings for him until Victoria came along. Now that I've lost him I finally know what I've lost I suppose. It's probably for the best though. He obviously cares a great deal about her. He's happy so I'm happy for him. I'll get over it, Polly. Don't worry."

Polly smiled as she said, "Good. I'm glad that you're okay. If you ever do need to talk though, I'm always here."

"Polly, I . . ." Clara started to say without the Intelligence's permission.

"What?" Polly asked.

"I . . . I need to tell you something. I'm . . . poss . . . posses . . ." Clara said as she struggled to tell Polly that she was being possessed by the Intelligence.

Incredible! The Intelligence had underestimated this female. Her will was strong. Much stronger than he thought. He had to admit that he had a grudging respect for her that she was actually able to fight him this much. Most humans found themselves completely at his mercy. This Clara Oswald was special indeed to still be fighting back this long after being under his control.

Despite his respect for her though, he still couldn't let her tell Polly the truth. He quickly clamped down on Clara and firmly regained control over her.

"What is it, Clara? What are you trying to tell me?" Polly asked in concern.

"It's nothing, Polly. I just wanted to tell you that I'm possessed by the Christmas spirit. It's getting closer and closer you know. I was hesitant to tell you about it though because it is still just a little early. Some people hate people who talk about Christmas before Thanksgiving," the Intelligence made Clara say.

"I don't mind. I love Christmas. You talk about it all that you want," Polly said as she let the matter drop.

_Nice save. You can't keep me contained forever though. _ Clara thought to The Intelligence as he smiled to himself.

_Your will is remarkable. I grant you that. I'm sure that in the long run, you would prove to be the victor over me. In the short term though, it is I who will claim victory. I only need your body for a short while in order to gain my revenge after all._ The Intelligence replied to her.

_What's that supposed to mean?_ Clara asked.

_You'll see, Clara Oswald. You'll see. _ The Intelligence responded, and Clara heard his laughter echo through her mind.

"Cydonia, I don't know what to do," Clara said to her Time Lady echo living in Gallifrey's distant past through their link to one another.

She had been keeping Cydonia aware of the entire situation since it had happened. If it wasn't for her, she would have probably already gone mad. She was so glad to have her to talk to.

"It's okay, Clara. I'll stay with you the whole time. I'm sure that Theta will beat this thing somehow. He always comes through. He's a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but he always gets to the right conclusion and figures everything out eventually. Just hold onto that thought, Clara. Theta will stop him," Cydonia said.

"This is the same Theta who didn't know that Rose was the Bad Wolf until just recently that you're talking about, right? I feel so relieved," Clara said in anguish.

"I believe in Theta and deep down so do you," Cydonia said.

"Yeah, I do. I just hope that this time I'm not wrong. I really don't fancy spending eternity as the Intelligence's slave," Clara said with a sigh.

"I wish that I could help. I feel so useless being stuck here in the past and not being able to do anything," Cydonia said.

"You can help. I want you to remember that I'm in trouble and come and help me," Clara said.

"What? What are you talking about? Do you mean that I'm still around in your time? You never told me that before," Cydonia said in complete surprise.

"I'm not supposed to tell you anything about your own future so I didn't. I have to this time though. Make yourself forget it for now if you have to, but please remember that I'm in trouble and come and get me when the time is right. Please," Clara said in despair.

"I will, Clara. I promise. Don't worry. I won't rest until you're safe," Cydonia said in a calming voice.

Clara sighed in relief. Surely Cydonia would come soon and save her now. She had to believe that. It was the only thing that could keep her going.

The Doctor was completely unaware of this conversation going on right under his nose. He was aware that Clara wasn't acting right however. She hadn't been ever since she had returned from the Daleks.

He was worried that maybe he had upset her by calling her and Oswin out on their masquerade. He would have to talk to her about it soon and make sure that everything between them was alright. He couldn't stand the thought of Clara being angry at him.

Right now though, he was more worried about Zoe. He wondered if her parents were treating her well. He started to go in and see for himself when he saw her coming out of the house in tears on the monitor.

His hearts sank. He had been afraid of this. Something about that woman's body language who had greeted Zoe at the door was all wrong. She had showed all the signs of someone who was faking an emotion rather than actually feeling it. He was hoping that he had been wrong about that though.

The Doctor opened the door for Zoe before she could even make it back to the TARDIS, and she came back inside crying. The Doctor embraced her as she wept uncontrollably on his shoulder.

"Did they say something to you? I'll give them a piece of my mind if they did," Polly said furiously.

"They weren't there. That woman at the door was a cousin of mine. She acted friendly enough, but I could tell that she really didn't want me there so I just left. I'm sorry, Doctor. I can't stay there," Zoe said.

"Where are they now then? The Doctor will take you there," Polly said.

The Doctor smiled for a moment at how Polly had volunteered him like that. She was right of course, but he still would have liked to have been asked first.

"They're not anywhere. They died years ago in an accident. It happened not too long after I was taken from them, and my cousin inherited their house. I'm sorry, Doctor. I made you come here for nothing," Zoe said in tears.

"I'm sorry that you lost them, Zoe. I wish that you could have gotten to see them again. Like I said before though, you're always welcome here," the Doctor said.

"Thank you. I guess I really don't have anywhere else to go especially with the Wheel having been destroyed. Not that I don't want to be here. I love traveling with you and Jamie. I always did," Zoe said.

"Good because you'll be doing plenty of it from now. Welcome back, Zoe," the Doctor said happily as he tried his best to cheer her up.

Even as Zoe smiled at him, the Intelligence knew that this was the moment to act. He would use this emotional moment to his full advantage.

"Doctor, why don't you take Zoe somewhere to cheer her up?" The Intelligence had Clara say.

"That's a good idea, Clara. In fact, it's better than that. It's a very cool idea. I like it. What do you think, Zoe? Where would you like to go?" the Doctor asked.

"I know the perfect place for her. Let me put the coordinates in. I won't even tell you where it is so you'll all be surprised," Clara said as she went over to the console.

"Alright, go ahead. I'm always up for a good surprise," the Doctor said as he moved aside for her.

"Oh, you'll really love this one," Clara said with a sinister smile.

She dematerialized the TARDIS and then suddenly sneered at the Doctor as she said, "We're going on a trip together you and I. A trip beyond this world and into another."

"Doctor, what's wrong with Clara?" Jamie asked in alarm.

"That's not Clara or at least she's not in control anyway, Jamie. She's been possessed by the Great Intelligence," the Doctor said.

"Oh, no! She was trying to warn me earlier, and I was so dim that I didn't understand her," Polly said in frustration.

"It's okay, Polly. I already knew," the Doctor said.

"You knew and you still let me at the controls of the TARDIS? How stupid are you, Doctor?" the Intelligence asked as he openly spoke to him in his own voice through Clara now.

"Oh, I've been accused of being a little thick sometimes, GI, but not this time. The TARDIS was only ever going to take you to one place no matter what coordinates that you put in. If you don't believe me, just look outside when we land," the Doctor said smugly.

The Intelligence snarled in rage as he asked, "How did you know, Time Lord?"

"Let's just say that a little birdie told me. Someone who I've known for a very long time," the Doctor said with a grin.

"I've been reading your thoughts though. You didn't know," the Intelligence protested.

"Oh, I'm very good at hiding my real thoughts behind all kinds of useless information and idle ramblings when I know that my mind is being listened to," the Doctor said.

"That's for sure. I bet you babble even worse in your thoughts than you do out loud," Clara suddenly said in her own voice.

"Shut up," the Intelligence said in the next minute.

"Make me," Clara said sticking her tongue out.

"Clara, are you alright?" the Doctor asked in concern.

"For the moment I am. I really hope that you have a plan this time and aren't just making this up as you go along as usual," Clara said.

"Oh, Clara. You know me so well. Of course there's no plan," the Doctor said happily.

"That was what I was afraid that you were going to say," Clara said with a sigh.

The Intelligence regained control of Clara as he said, "Ever the fool, aren't you, Doctor? You have no plan, no weapons, and absolutely no idea what you're doing."

"That's when he's at his best though. The Doctor never knows what he's doing," Clara said as she momentarily took over her body once again.

"This is getting confusing. I never know who she is anymore. She keeps switching from moment to moment," Jamie said in bewilderment.

As the TARDIS finally landed, the Intelligence looked toward the door eagerly as he asked, "So where have you taken us, Time Lord?"

"To a little reception committee that I had planned for you," the Doctor said in a dark voice.

The TARDIS doors opened to show that they were on Gallifrey and outside was Cydonia who was glaring at the Intelligence. Cydonia was filled with rage as she said, "You have one chance to get out of my sister's brain or I'm coming in after you. Believe me when I say that that won't be pleasant."

"I don't need a plan. I've got Cydonia," the Doctor said with a wicked smile.

**Next: It's the battle for Clara's mind between the Great Intelligence and Cydonia. Things are about to get nasty.**


End file.
